DENVER — A Colorado photographer captured a series of snapshots he called “once in a lifetime” atop Blue Sky Mountain on Thursday.
The photo shows a herd of mountain goats, a bald eagle, and a yellow-legged marmot all in the same frame.
Dominic Weskamp shared this incredible photo in the Denver7 Discover Colorado | Through Your Photos group on Facebook, and we couldn’t help but give him a call to ask about it. He said he never expected to see a scene like this unfold.
“If I went on a trip and managed to photograph a moose, a bighorn sheep and a moose all on the same day, I called it a trifecta,” he says. “I never dreamed I’d get all three in the same photo.”
Hear about Weskamp’s incredible photography in the video player below.
Colorado photographer captures ‘once in a lifetime’ photo that captures bald eagles, mountain goats and marmots
Westkamp drove up Blue Sky Mountain on Thursday to look for the mountain goats and marmots that the peak is famous for. When he and his wife reached the peak, they saw goats “everywhere” near the parking lot, he said. Hoping to get a photo of the goats away from the parking lot and restrooms, they followed the goats up a nearby ridge.
“My wife saw a bald eagle soaring up, and I was sitting there trying to follow it, and finally it landed on top of the ridge,” Weskamp recalled. “It stayed on the ridge for a while, and next thing I knew there was a marmot right there, and then this little herd of mountain goats came over the ridge, and they were all there.”
“Just sitting there and watching it was just amazing.”
Photo by Dominic Weskamp
Weskamp is friends with Michael Reino, who recently went viral for a video of a goat climbing onto a Subaru at the top of Blue Sky Mountain. The two share the responsibility of posting wildlife photos to the Douglas Land Conservancy’s social media pages.
“That’s the shame that made me go up there,” Weskamp joked Friday. “Mike’s doing some great videos up there. I’ve got to go up there and get some photos. I’ve got a chance.”
Westkamp, who calls himself a “bald eagle photographer” and says the national bird of the United States is one of his favorite things to photograph, didn’t expect to see a bald eagle on Thursday. He said it was a pleasant surprise because the bird has special meaning to him.
“I’m a veteran, so I’m very patriotic. I love bald eagles,” said Weskamp, who served in the U.S. Army for 10 years and the U.S. Public Health Service for 20 years before retiring in 2020. “If you go looking for a bald eagle and you find one, that’s great. But if you’re not looking and you find one, it’s just amazing.”
Photo by Dominic Weskamp
The photo Weskamp took Thursday, and many others he’s shared with photography groups over the years, are stunning, but reflecting on his Denver 7 photo, he said he hopes his work shows everyone can get outside and experience Colorado’s natural beauty.
“I’m a disabled veteran, so it’s good that most of my photos are taken pretty close to the road because I don’t hike long trails anymore,” he says, “so all of these photos are viewable by regular people who don’t want to climb 14er peaks or hike miles.”
“You just need to get out there and keep an eye out.”
Photo by Dominic Weskamp
